Delhi Food and Civil Supplies Minister Imran Hussain directed his department officials to take a strict action against those found guilty of dereliction of duty after shortcomings were noticed in functioning of Fair Price Shops (FPS), during a surprise check by the Minister himself.
During the inspections, meant to check the efficacy of functioning of e-Point of Sale (e-PoS) devices installed at Fair Price Shops at Burari, nine shops were found to be deficient in functioning and shortcomings were noticed. There was connectivity problem at some of the FPS leading to delay in distribution of ration to the beneficiaries through e-PoS devices.
While reviewing e-POS, officers of the department informed the Minister, "since the distribution of food grains through e-PoS devices is in its initial stage, such kind of technical issues are being faced and are also promptly being attended by the department as well as officials and technicians of Bharat Electronics Limited".
Hussain directed the officials to ensure that such issues pertaining to functioning of e-PoS devices, electronic weighing machines and connectivity are immediately attended to, so that the ration beneficiaries do not have to face inconvenience in obtaining their ration.
Hussain also issued directions to Commissioner, Food and Civil Supplies to seek explanation of concerned Food and Supply Officer (FSO), Food and Supply Inspector (FSI) and Assistant Commissioner (FCS) regarding the discrepancies/irregularities found at the five FPS in question.
Based on the explanation, Hussain directed Commissioner to take disciplinary action against the delinquent officials where gross negligence exists.
Further, the FPS dealers are also required to display details of prescribed authorities for redressal of grievances relating to quality and quantity of food grains as per National Food Security Act, 2013.
Food and Civil Supplies Department, Delhi Government has started distributing ration to beneficiaries through e-PoS devices to all 2254 Fair Price Shops in Delhi from January 1st.
"The new system has mechanism for verification of beneficiaries through Aadhar authentication. e-Pos Devices have also been integrated with electronic weighing machine to ensure correct weight to the beneficiaries," Delhi Government mentioned.
The Minister expressed confidence that successful implementation of distribution of foodgrains through e-PoS devices.